MS Chapter 87

Zhong Liyu believed that Lu Qingjia wouldn’t falter in such a minor challenge, yet he couldn’t help but worry for him subconsciously.

This is what they mean by “concern leads to confusion.”

Barriers of space and time meant nothing to Zhong Liyu; he could clearly see Lu Qingjia’s current situation.

Time seemed to stretch, each second feeling unbearably long.

At that moment, Lu Qingjia moved. He didn’t panic despite his hair unexpectedly rebelling and his body losing control, leaving him in free fall.

His calm expression was enough to show his composure. His arms and fingers were all entangled by strands of hair, and this ability’s rebellion was cunning.

It seemed to inherit the manipulative intelligence of its master, leaving no room for error or oversight when restraining someone’s movements.

The entire sludge space was dark, though Lu Qingjia, as its master, could sense the area’s dynamics and every corner.

The moment Lu Qingjia noticed his hair’s rebellion, his body radiated a golden light, clearly pushing the resistance of his Celestial Bloodline to its limit.

While this limited the hair’s invasion time, the most crucial point was that the entire space now had light due to him becoming a source of illumination.

Where there is light, there are shadows.

Even the hair strands didn’t notice that not all of Lu Qingjia’s body was glowing. Some parts, though restrained by the hair, emitted limited light, while others remained in their normal state.

This showcased his powerful control over his bloodline, even allowing him to partition his own body.

The non-glowing parts of his body, illuminated by the glowing sections, cast a shadow on the ground, which suddenly sprang up.

Though the process sounds lengthy, it took less than a second.

The change was so swift that almost simultaneously with the hair’s rebellion, the shadow pierced Lu Qingjia’s body, and the pitch-black shadow, like a living creature, grabbed something inside him and pulled.

A golden pocket watch appeared on the ground, and the hair quickly tried to entangle it to prevent Lu Qingjia from turning the tables.

But it was too late. The shadow was Lu Qingjia’s ability, and though its function differed from the hair, there was no doubt he could control it as deftly as his own limbs.

The shadow’s tip moved the golden watch’s hands forward, rewinding Lu Qingjia’s body time to a few minutes before the hair rebelled.

Freed from the restraints, he fell from mid-air.

The shadow retracted to his feet, becoming inconspicuous.

Lu Qingjia picked up the golden watch and sighed in relief, feeling as though he had narrowly escaped death.

Though he appeared composed, he wasn’t a god and couldn’t be certain his judgment was absolutely correct without sufficient data.

Lu Qingjia suspected that the rebellion of abilities wouldn’t be limited to just one at a time; the number and frequency would increase as the game neared its end.

If following normal game logic, of course, no more than two abilities would rebel simultaneously—based on the average for players of this level.

But one could never rule out the unexpected. In such a critical moment, if the ability he relied on to solve problems also rebelled or failed, even a god couldn’t save him.

Thus, Lu Qingjia chose not to use the time reversal ability directly but instead turned it into an item to manipulate.

At least for now, it seemed that while abilities could rebel, items could not.

After all, items were, strictly speaking, “inanimate objects.”

Lu Qingjia continuously rewound his body’s time, going back about an hour to offset the possible rebellion time of his abilities.

After a while, confirming the crisis had temporarily passed, he returned to the ground.

However, this meant the lunch he had eaten earlier was for naught.

So, after emerging, Lu Qingjia took out another lunchbox from his space, placed the cat back on his lap, and continued eating, using the lunchbox as a cushion.

The two players, seeing Lu Qingjia was fine, sighed in relief.

“That was too close just now. Luckily, your abilities are strong, and having two that can counter each other at least ensures you can escape.”

Lu Qingjia didn’t tell them what happened in the space, only saying, “This level’s difficulty won’t be kind enough to have only one ability rebel at a time.”

“Anyway, you should prepare too. List out your abilities, calculate the possible combinations of ability rebellions using numerical arrangements, and think about how to counter them.”

Lu Qingjia’s instincts were incredibly sharp. The consecutive rebellions of two abilities earlier didn’t require him to preset anything; he relied solely on his quick thinking to turn the situation around, even having time to consider the optimal solution.

But others might not be so fortunate. Just the rebellion of an ability they had long relied on as a trump card would be hard to accept immediately.

The two players twitched their lips: “You… you don’t mean you’ve already thought this through, do you?”

Lu Qingjia replied matter-of-factly, “It’s impossible to cover everything, especially since I have many abilities. If arranged numerically, the possibilities are at least in the hundreds of thousands. My brain can’t compute that.”

But that didn’t mean he couldn’t react.

Though Lu Qingjia had been the only one facing misfortune since entering the game, the two players once again felt the true difficulty of this instance.

Since the remaining players were on their way, Lu Qingjia and the others weren’t in a hurry to leave.

With the coordinates Lu Qingjia provided, they wouldn’t take long to arrive.

Using this gap, Lu Qingjia took out the lamp oil he had forcibly taken from the man.

Looking at it, he said, “I always felt the lamp wasn’t the key; this is.”

“Why do you think that?” The Infinite Player dipped his finger into the three portions of lamp oil Lu Qingjia had taken from his space and sniffed it. “My sense of smell is strong, but I didn’t detect any sinister or ominous scent.”

“That’s exactly why,” Lu Qingjia said. “If it looked obviously evil, the previous players wouldn’t have been foolish enough to light such a thing for themselves.”

The village claimed it was a life lamp, but what if it was actually a curse? Players were never short of suspicion.

Lu Qingjia reached out to the lamp oil and activated Old Uncle’s ability, but the oil remained unchanged.

This was enough to prove that, strictly speaking, this lamp oil wasn’t an inanimate object. At least up to now, its increase, decrease, or disappearance was linked to living beings—or more precisely, to living people.

This aligned with its nature.

Lu Qingjia then combined the golden watch with Old Uncle’s ability, and this time, a visible change occurred.

When Lu Qingjia stopped the ability output, the two players stared in shock at the three items on the table.

First, they were astonished by Lu Qingjia’s immense power. From what they had seen so far, he had control over time, space, and powerful natural abilities. Though they were all intermediate players, they were clearly not on the same level.

Even if he had already participated in an exchange student instance, this was—

Especially the Infinite Player, who had seen many advanced players in Infinite City, felt that Lu Qingjia’s strength surpassed many of them.

Next, they were horrified by the raw materials separated from the lamp oil through the reversal.

The three portions of lamp oil had turned into three lumps of skin-covered fat, still stained with blood.

Judging by the skin’s texture and fineness, it was clearly human skin. In other words, these were three pieces of human flesh, evidently made from human fat rendered into corpse oil.

Beside the fat were some small fragments, like strands of hair, nails, or a few drops of blood.

Lu Qingjia picked up the strand of hair next to his portion of lamp oil “materials” and produced a camera-sized machine.

“What’s that?” the Extreme Player asked.

“It’s a gene detector,” the Infinite Player recognized it as a hot-selling item from their mall, somewhat enviously saying, “But this thing is expensive and not cost-effective. It’s rarely used in general tasks, so only the wealthy with points to burn or technical players would buy it.”

As they spoke, Lu Qingjia’s test results came out.

“The hair is mine,” Lu Qingjia said, then did the same comparison for the other two players.

The nail in front of the Extreme Player was his, and the blood in front of the Infinite Player was confirmed to be his.

The Infinite Player even rolled up his pants, revealing a fresh scar on his knee, seemingly from a few months ago. Though it had no impact now, the scar’s severity showed he had bled a lot back then.

Lu Qingjia smiled, “A big discovery. It seems the village determined the number of sacrifices much earlier than I guessed. I thought it would be within half a month, at most a month.”

“Who would have thought it was decided half a year or even earlier, long before the next batch of players was chosen.”

Since the oil lamp could serve as the players’ life lamp, allowing the village to monitor whether they were alive, it undoubtedly had a connection with the players.

The decomposed materials turned out to be body tissues from each of their characters mixed into the corpse oil. The village was far from the city, and the young people had never returned, so the process of collecting these body tissues couldn’t have been a short task.

“Now we can draw two conclusions from this.”

“First, the so-called curse for leaving the village was originally a conspiracy. Perhaps it started as a simple curse, but at least now the village is involved and holds significant authority in it.”

“Second, there are traitors outside the village collaborating with the villagers.”

“Third, we’ve found the whereabouts of the previous players’ bodies.”

“The players’ bodies?” The first two points didn’t surprise them, as they aligned with their guesses, but the last one was horrifying.

Lu Qingjia looked at the three lumps of human fat on the table and nodded, “Even now, there’s still a trace of spiritual power lingering on them, something ordinary people couldn’t possess.”

“Of course, this might also be why the players’ bodies were used to make corpse oil.”

Lu Qingjia’s sensitivity to spiritual power far exceeded that of players at his level. He could feel it, and he had an ability on his bracelet that could detect it, though he didn’t need to mention that.

Overall, today had been quite fruitful.

By around 4 PM, the other players arrived.

While other players lost phone signal upon entering the mountain village, there was an Infinite Player among them who had a signal receiver, allowing them to contact Lu Qingjia and the others immediately.

The village welcomed the new batch of players as usual.

When Lu Qingjia and the others arrived, some villagers had already led the players to the ancestral hall to pay respects to the mountain god.

However, these players were relatively obedient, going through the motions—bowing when told to bow, lighting lamps when told to light them.

When Lu Qingjia arrived, the man had already placed several lit lamps on the bottom row of the altar. Seeing Lu Qingjia, his previously sullen expression from the morning turned into a relieved smile.

Lu Qingjia smiled back. After the players finished paying respects to the mountain god, he asked, “By the way, we’ve been talking about our situation.”

“Though our ancestors acted improperly and are now being punished, the village must have learned from this and become more devout and humble towards the mountain god, right?”

“Since the sacrifice is approaching, why don’t I see any festive decorations around?”

The man’s smile stiffened, and he exchanged a glance with the village chief, who explained, “Who said that? We’re preparing, but it’s not time yet, so it’s not lively.”

“Is that so? Can I take a look?” Lu Qingjia asked.

“What do you want to see?” the man frowned, clearly annoyed by this meddling.

Lu Qingjia said, “After all, we’re also part of the sacrifice. Shouldn’t we greet the village’s chosen sacrifices? Once we’re with the mountain god, we’ll need to look out for each other.”

“Though we share the same roots, it’s a pity we didn’t grow up together. Even if blood is thicker than water, our bond is weak. Why not take this chance to get closer?”

As Lu Qingjia spoke, many villagers were around.

Though the village, like most closed rural areas, favored boys over girls, there was a boy among the sacrifices. Even if the girl’s parents didn’t care, the boy’s parents would surely be heartbroken.

They quickly said, “Alright, alright. Our son’s fate is unfortunate. He hasn’t been in this world for long and already has to serve the mountain god.”

“He’s lively and mischievous, and once he’s not at home, he’ll surely cause trouble. With you older siblings looking after him, we parents can feel more at ease.”

Before the village chief and the man could respond, the group was already heading over.

Lu Qingjia even took out a camera and asked, “Can I film the entire sacrifice?”

“Don’t judge me by my appearance, but I’m a fan of cultural documentaries. If my parents had told me earlier about this ancient sacrificial tradition in our hometown, I would have returned sooner, not waiting until now.”

“Though I might not live past this month, leaving something valuable behind before I die would make my life worthwhile.”

“What are you filming?” the village chief angrily said. “No filming! Do you want to doom the entire village?”

Even in such a closed-off place, they knew human sacrifice was illegal.

Lu Qingjia smiled, “How could that be? I just feel that in this world, false gods are rampant, and most are just frauds.”

“Our mountain god truly manifests. With such power, why limit it to this valley? I hope the mountain god’s light can shine everywhere.”

“This is your mistake. You can’t, for your own selfish desires and the village’s perpetual blessings, confine a deity here. While it may sound humble, isn’t it essentially imprisonment?”

He sighed with genuine emotion, “How pitiful.”

“Pitiful? What’s pitiful?” The village chief’s face turned red with anger. “Why don’t you pity yourself first? You have less than half a month to live. Shouldn’t you focus on eating and drinking? Does the mountain god need your pity?”

“Why should I pity myself?” Lu Qingjia said with righteous indignation. “I’ve been interested in religion since childhood, but my research ultimately disappointed me. My lifelong dream was to see a true god and serve by their side.”

“My dream has come true, and I’ve contributed to my fellow villagers. How can you call that pitiful?”

Lu Qingjia turned the tables, looking at them with suspicion and accusation, “Your faith isn’t sincere. So this is how you view those who are sacrificed? You think serving the mountain god is pitiful? Huh?”

This fanatical religious speech left the two men on the spot.

The villagers around looked at the village chief with dissatisfaction, “Uncle, how can you say that?”

“When you were persuading our children, didn’t you say it was a blessing? Where’s the pity?”

The village chief now felt the trouble caused by this troublemaker and increasingly believed the man’s words.

But upon reflection, he realized he had been led astray by the young man.

He angrily said, “I’ve served the mountain god for so many years. Do I need a kid to teach me?”

“In any case, no filming, or I’ll break your legs.”

Lu Qingjia shrugged, “Alright, no filming then. Can I at least watch?”

He muttered with dissatisfaction, and as the group walked away, the village chief and the man finally realized—

“Wait, just watching is fine?”

“Forget it, don’t mind this kid,” the man sneered. “Just a bit of cleverness. Haven’t we had smart ones before? What happened to them?”

“Not to mention, what about the person his brother brought along? Was he any worse? And what happened?”

The village chief could only nod, holding back his anger.

Lu Qingjia and the players arrived at the home of the boy chosen as a sacrifice.

The chosen one was the youngest in the family, only eight or nine years old, at that age where everyone finds them annoying.

When Lu Qingjia and the others arrived, the boy just made faces at them and refused to put on the sacrificial clothes to show everyone.

Lu Qingjia disliked dealing with children who were completely uncommunicative.

After a few polite words, he turned and went to the home of the girl chosen as a sacrifice.

However, not all the players went this time.

As they passed their accommodation, the newly arrived players were led to settle in first.

Lu Qingjia arrived at the girl’s home. Compared to the boy, her treatment wasn’t as good.

The girl was the second daughter in the family, the most easily overlooked position. After being chosen as a sacrifice, her parents showed no reluctance or heartache, probably only considering that there would be one less pair of hands to work.

The girl was older, around eleven or twelve, but mature and sensible, knowing to pour water and bring stools for the guests.

Lu Qingjia got straight to the point, saying he wanted to see the girl’s sacrificial attire in advance and, if possible, replicate the sacrificial process.

After all, according to the girls by the river yesterday, the entire sacrifice was conducted in public, and the older generation watched it every three years, so it should be deeply ingrained in their memories.

The girl’s parents were initially unwilling, but Lu Qingjia threw a stack of cash worth tens of thousands at them.

The girl’s parents could only say that they had originally planned to sternly condemn this behavior, but he gave too much.

Soon, the girl came out wearing the elaborate sacrificial attire. Since Lu Qingjia had paid, they naturally wanted to satisfy him.

The girl’s grandmother, who had managed the sacrificial process before, demonstrated everything from the altar setup to the details of the sacrificial attire.

Even without the actual items, she gestured and explained to Lu Qingjia, ensuring he felt as if he were there.

Lu Qingjia noticed a type of flower wreath on the girl’s head, with a somewhat rare color.

From Lu Qingjia’s knowledge, this flower was usually white, blue, or purple, and he had never seen a red one.

Even if artificially cultivated, this village clearly wouldn’t bother introducing ornamental plants beyond food crops.

He asked the girl’s grandmother, “What’s this—”

“Oh, this is the mountain god flower. It doesn’t bloom in this color anywhere else, only here.”

“Wearing this flower, the mountain god knows it’s an offering. Every year at this time, children can’t touch this flower, afraid the mountain god might mistake them for offerings and take them away.”

Lu Qingjia nodded, “Do both boys and girls wear it?”

“Yes.”

Lu Qingjia smiled, “I see.”

After learning some more details, he left the girl’s home.

The two players with him didn’t know that this game likely had a rule to temporarily transfer the curse, so they didn’t take the earlier events seriously and didn’t understand Lu Qingjia’s true intentions.

When Lu Qingjia said he wanted to see the red flowers, the two realized there might be something strange about them.

As the three were about to head over, they saw two players rushing towards them, their faces filled with panic.

“Someone… someone is dead.” Both of them spoke with pale faces before they could even steady themselves.

“It’s Lu Jiang. He was killed by his own Ability.”

“We had just settled in and were about to come find you when blades suddenly shot out from his body.”

The deceased Player had an Ability that allowed him to eject razor-sharp blades from his body, making him a formidable close-combat offensive Player.

Yet, he died by his own Ability. Blades erupted not only from his limbs but also from his face, head, and even his eyes, tearing his body apart and leaving him in a gruesome state.

Although Lu Qingjia had warned them earlier, and everyone had been on high alert, when it actually happened, they didn’t even have time to react.

Only then did everyone witness just how despairing the betrayal of their own Abilities could be. The difficulty of this instance far exceeded their expectations.

When the Player died, the blades ejected with such force upon hitting the ground that they nearly struck another Player. Even though he reacted quickly, he was left with a significant wound.

By the time Lu Qingjia and the other two returned to the house, all they saw were the silent figures of the remaining Players.

Lu Qingjia stepped forward to examine the corpse. By now, the blades had disappeared from the body.

But the horrific wounds all over it were a testament to the torment he had endured before death.

Zhong Liyu instinctively jumped onto his shoulder, his tail curling around Lu Qingjia’s neck, remaining quiet throughout.

Just as Lu Qingjia was about to turn the Player’s body over, several sharp blades suddenly shot out from the skin where he touched.

They seemed to slice open Lu Qingjia’s finger, causing blood to seep out.

At the same time, the lifeless corpse suddenly moved, and a sharp blade from its palm thrust straight toward Lu Qingjia’s forehead—

Author’s Note:

This instance—every scheme is designed with Jiajia as the primary target.

The goal is to trap him here, or at the very least, set up pitfalls to prevent him from succeeding in his revenge.